Education minister David Coltart yesterday urged headmasters to exercise tolerance on schoolchildren who failed to pay fees as schools opened for the 2013 first term.
REPORT BY VENERANDA LANGA, SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
His call followed reports that some schools in Harare, Bulawayo and other parts of the country had turned away pupils over non-payment of fees.
Coltart said: “Government policy is that school heads should comply with the government directive to take in as many children as possible and that parents must pay the required fees. What we ask school heads to do is to negotiate payment plans with parents and I need to stress that schools cannot operate without money and so parents should make all efforts to pay the required amounts.”
The minister also acknowledged that some students were yet to secure Form One places.
“What we find is that those children who are affected want to go to particular schools and in most cases they cannot get places at those schools. It is not a problem that is affecting the majority of schoolchildren, but there is still an unacceptable number of them affected. We are still to ascertain the figures,” he said.
Coltart said the affected children should contact their nearest regional and district education offices for assistance.
Meanwhile, some parents interviewed by NewsDay yesterday said most schools had not increased fees for this term.
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Benenia Makamba, a parent of a Form Two boarding school pupil at St Anne’s Goto in Wedza, said the fees had remained fixed at $380 per term although the school had earlier announced plans to hike the amount to $450 for the first term.
At St Mark’s High School in Mubayira, Mhondoro, parents said the fees had risen marginally from $400 to $420.
“The increase is reasonable,” said Maureen Chindotwe, a parent with a Form Three pupil at the school.
